If everything goes to plan, Scott Parker will be inking in two return trips to west London next season.

The former Chelsea and Fulham midfielder is as well-placed as anybody to map out the two miles which separate Stamford Bridge from Craven Cottage as his two old sides prepare to do business on Boxing Day - all the while his Burnley team plot what would be a landmark win over EFL Championship promotion rivals Sheffield United.

As a player, Chelsea did not get to see the best from Parker - far from it - but the 44-year-old midfielder remains a revered figure elsewhere in the capital, including not so far away in Hammersmith.

READ MORE: Chelsea handed clear title race advantage amid Liverpool nightmare - with one catch

READ MORE: Chelsea vs Fulham prediction and odds ahead of Premier League clash

Parker, who started his professional career with Charlton Athletic, also played for West Ham and Tottenham, then finishing up at Fulham. Norwich City (loan) and Newcastle United are also on his CV - while him earning 18 caps for England at a stage when Steven Gerrard, Frank Lampard and Paul Scholes were still around is no mean feat, either.

Now in his secondary career as a manager, Parker doesn't look back on his time with Chelsea regrettably, as such, but there is no doubt he was unable to underline his true worth. Signed for £10million by Claudio Ranieri, Parker remained at Stamford Bridge when Jose Mourinho took over as manager - yet that never quite worked for Parker or 'The Special One' - with the Roman Abramovich era starting to get into full, trophy-winning swing.

"When you look at my three years prior to Chelsea, I was playing some really good football and doing really well," said Parker during an in-depth interview with The Independent - in 2005 - shortly after his 18 months at Stamford Bridge was brought to an end with a switch to Newcastle.

"I suppose, when I first went to Chelsea and then last year, when I wasn't playing, people forgot about me."

Parker, who totted-up just 28 appearances in all competitions for the Blues after a high-profile transfer across the capital from Charlton in January 2004 - prompted by an eye-catching performance against Chelsea prior to that - played back-up to Claude Makelele in his only full season at Stamford Bridge and an unwanted injury cut short his own campaign before he did manage to get his hands on a Premier League winner's medal.

"There are a lot of positives I can take, as well as the disappointments," he went on.

"There was also a lot of hard thinking. I was looking at myself, looking at the situation and, obviously, I realised my chances were going to be limited. I could have stayed there, but I'm the sort of fella who just wants to play."

And that's exactly what Parker did. Newcastle gave him that platform - before a return to London with West Ham in 2007 - while the final decade of his career was spread between the Hammers, Tottenham and Fulham.

Just two years after hanging up his boots in 2017, it was the Cottagers who gave Parker his first opportunity in the dugout, too, as he atoned for top-flight relegation with Championship promotion during the 2019/2020 season. He will be hoping to replicate that feat with Burnley this season - either automatically or through the knock-out route - to ultimately book a welcome return trip to Stamford Bridge and Craven Cottage.

"[Leaving Chelsea was] not feeling that I've failed," Parker continued. "I didn't play a lot there.

"And when I did, especially under [Jose] Mourinho, I thought I did well. But it wasn't meant to be. For one reason or another the manager didn't fancy me."

There are plenty of managers who did, though, as a decorated Premier League career which includes 368 top-flight appearances and 18 international caps testify. Despite holding no grudges at Stamford Bridge and beyond, Parker is almost-certain to be backing their west London rivals on Boxing Day, though.